China Still Searching for Aerial Gold

Sochi’s slopes crashed China’s dreams for a gold medal in freestyle skiing women’s aerials at the Winter Olympics.

Xu Mengtao missed her landing Friday after leading the second final with a high score of 101.08. Xu said the slope felt steeper than normal. The 23 year-old from China’s northeastern Liaoning province earned silver with 83.50 points, behind Belarus skier Alla Tsuper’s 98.01.

Xu, a reigning world champion, told reporters that she was satisfied with her performance given that her recent training has been below the bar. “But I do still feel a little regret. This is the fourth silver medal China has won at the Winter Olympics in aerials, and we have always wanted to get a gold medal, but sadly I didn’t get the chance,” Xu said.

China’s three-time world champion and gold medal hopeful Li Nina had a brutal crash landing that left her motionless on the slope. The 31 year-old aerialist, who is also from Liaoning, whipped two full rotations around her first flip, coming in short for another flip as her left ski hit the slope, propelling her body into the ground.

China’s aerial athletes had a strong shot of victory. Li claimed a silver medal at the 2010 Vancouver Games and in Turin in 2006, while Xu was crowned world champion in 2013 and won test events at the Sochi Games. Li finished these Olympics in Sochi just outside the medals in fourth position. Another Chinese skier, Cheng Shuang, was fifth.

Many athletes have struggled with the conditions at Sochi, noting that gradients have varied from typical training slopes. High temperatures in the mid-50’s created soft, quickly melting, wet snow and wreaked havoc on otherwise smooth landings and courses. Russian skier Maria Komissarova broke her back and dislocated a vertebra during a practice session on the freestyle course Saturday.

China isn’t leaving Sochi without bling. The country has pulled in two silver medals to date and three female Chinese athletes will be bringing back their gold to show off at home.